Summer solstice 2019: From Stonehenge to Times Square, people across northern hemisphere celebrate longest day of the year

Bonfires and folk dancing among ways of marking 21 June - although they do things a little differently in New York...

Mass bonfires, magical lantern events and a, er, mass yoga session have all been taking place as people across the northern hemisphere celebrate summer solstice.

The longest day of the calendar – 16 hours and 38 minutes this year, fact fans – was marked with events from tiny Mongolian villages (where Shaman host fire rituals) to Times Square in New York (where hipsters hold an annual yoga-thon).

An estimated 10,000 revellers descended on the UK’s own Stonehenge to cheer the sun as it rose behind the area’s ancient circle. A day of spiritualism, stone-touching and singing – often by people in elaborate headdress – followed.

A live stream from the 4,500-year-old Wiltshire site broadcast parts of the day to viewers online.

"We live in quite large cities sometimes with tall buildings so we don't see so much of the sky, and at night-time there is lots of light pollution, so we are losing that access," said Maggie Aderin-Pocock, the scientist who worked with English Heritage to create the online broadcast.

"We don't often just step out and look at the night sky - and with a monument like Stonehenge, that is just what our ancestors were doing."

Elsewhere, traditional paper lanterns were released in Spain, folk songs and dancing was performed in Belarus, and mass bonfires were built in Finland.

All good fun because, remember, folks: from here on in, the days start getting shorter.